Born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1932, Pete Hill joined a local hot rod club and got involved with drag racing shortly after World War II. In 1948 he built a Knucklehead for racing, recalling, "In the early days those car guys hated us bikers because we could always beat them." He cites C. B. Clausen, builder of the famous Brute Harley-Davidson high-performance machine, as his inspiration. A body repairman by trade, Hill has won nine top fuel titles, five with DragBike and four with AMRA. Hill's wife, Jackie, served as his crew chief throughout his racing career. He retired from racing in 1994 but still rides a Harley-Davidson on the street, traveling to Bonneville every year to watch the speed trials.